Senate committee advances bill that raises penalty for illegal voting — less than two years after lowering it
Texas House Speaker Dade Phelan, who is a founding member of the bipartisan House Criminal Justice Reform Caucus, resisted. He said in a statement at the time that the provision was part of the Legislature’s “holistic approach to advancing election integrity” that struck “the appropriate balance between ballot access and accountability.
The bill’s author, Sen. Bryan Hughes, could not be reached for comment, but in his statement of intent, he wrote: “Illegal voting has been a felony for almost 50 years, and S.B. 2 returns this offense to a second degree felony. These offenses are serious and should be treated as such.” Bob Green, chair of the Travis County Republican Party's election integrity committee, said the punishment should match the crime for illegal voting. Democratic Sen. Judith Zaffrini asked if he was aware that a second-degree felony is a more severe penalty than the one associated with making a terroristic threat.
“It’s much more than just changing the penalty and just saying, ‘oh, we’re going back,’” Menéndez said. Further, by no longer requiring criminal intent,"you’re actually able to prosecute someone for a felony for a simple mistake,” he said.
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